EIMEAR Mulhern of Abbeville Stud must surely be pleased to have such a smart filly from the only crop by Roaring Lion. The filly is out of the unraced Dame D’Honneur (Teofilo) whose progeny include three winners and Turf Laurel (Footstepsinthesand). She was runner-up on her second start at two in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs.

Roaring Lion completed his first season standing at David Redvers’ Tweenhills Stud for £40,000 and then shuttled to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. Shortly after leaving quarantine he showed signs of colic. A number of operations followed but he sadly lost his life. The son of Kitten’s Joy (El Prado) won eight of 13 starts, including four Group 1 victories.

Group 2 win

As a two-year-old he won his first three starts, including the Group 2 July Stakes over a mile, and ended his first season when he finished a neck behind Saxon Warrior as runner-up in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.

At three Roaring Lion began with a third to the subsequent Derby winner Maser in the Group 3 Craven Stakes and then finished fifth in the Group 1 2000 Guineas. Having won the Group 2 Dante Stakes, Roaring Lion was third in the Derby. He then started his Group 1 winning exploits, starting by beating his old rival Saxon Warrior in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes. He then went on to win the Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and QEII Stakes.

Achievements

His achievements were properly acknowledged when he was crowned the 2018 Horse of the Year at the Cartier Awards. He covered 133 mares in his only season at stud.